Maschile o femminile (Gender: masculine or feminine) In Italian nouns have gender: they are either masculine or feminine. Most nouns ending in –o are masculine. Most nouns ending in –a are feminine. Nouns ending in –e are either masculine or feminine. Nouns ending in –ione, like televisione are feminine. Nouns ending in a consonant, like sport, are usually masculine. bambina bambino

Articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article) one or a/an= un; uno; un’; una In Italian the indefinite article a/an has different forms according to the gender and the first letter of the noun that follow. Masculine nouns We use uno if the noun is masculine and if the first letter is s + consonant or z like: uno studente (a student) uno zaino (a backpack) We use un if the noun is masculine and if the first letter is a consonant or a vowel: un albero (a tree) un libro (a book) uno studente uno zaino Un albero un libro

Articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article) one or a/an= un; uno; un’; una Feminine nouns We use una if the noun is feminine and if the first letter is a consonant like: una studentessa (a female student) We use un’ if the noun is feminine and if the first letter is a vowel: un’ amica (a girlfriend)

Singolare e plurale (Number: singular and plural) In Italian masculine nouns that end in –o in the singular, end in –i in the plural: ragazzo ragazzi Feminine nouns that end in –a in the singular form, end in –e in the plural: studentessa studentesse Masculine and feminine nouns that end in –e in the singular form, end in –i in the plural: cane (m.) cani classe (f.) classi ragazzo ragazzi studentessa studentesse cane cani classe classi

Articolo determinativo (Definite article) The: il; l’; lo; i; gli; The masculine singular definite article has 3 forms: We use l’ before nouns that begin with a vowel we use lo before nouns that begin with s + consonant or z and we use il before all other consonant. The masculine plural definite article has 2 forms: We use gli before nouns that begin with a vowel, s + consonant, or z and we use i before all other consonants. singular plural Masculine il libro l’ orologio lo studente lo zaino i libri gli orologi gli studenti gli zaini

Articolo determinativo (Definite article) The: la; l’; le The feminine singular definite article has 2 forms: We use l’ before nouns that begin with a vowel we use la before all other consonant. The femenine plural definite article has 1 form: We use le before all nouns. singular plural Feminine la penna l’arancia le penne le arance